Magnetic Series by Macrogramma

Cat.#: LONTANO-S-CD47
Release date: 20/9/2024
Format: CD, Digital

I’ve always had a deep connection with magnetic tape. Since the end of the '80s, when I was just a kid, musical experimentation was inextricably linked to that medium, to the tapes that filled my days. Every recording, every edit, every sound etched onto those tapes represented my first naive steps into the world of music. It was a way to explore, to get to know myself and the sounds I could create.

Then, in the late '90s, the introduction to Minidiscs and, later, HD recording changed everything. Daily interaction with tape seemed like a thing of the past, forgotten in favor of newer, more immediate, and versatile technologies. But that magic, that physicality, was hard to replace.

Over the years, I’ve watched with curiosity as magnetic tape made its return to the tables of ambient and experimental music creators. I realized that many had already rediscovered and embraced this medium, while for others, it had never really gone away. I, on the other hand, was much slower to return. But it was precisely through the works of other artists that I found the drive to immerse myself once again in this dimension, more convinced than ever.

Since 2020, after some attempts to incorporate tape elements into my compositions, I began to explore this path more seriously. I started creating tracks where the use of magnetic tape wasn’t just an accessory, but an expressive end in itself. "Magnetic Series" is not a concept album in the traditional sense, but rather a collection of tracks created between 2020 and 2024, united by a common thread: the manipulation of tape in various forms, from cassette loops to reel-to-reel, from slowed-down/speed-up tracks to entire mix passed through tape.

Beyond the allure of nostalgia and the fun that this medium provides, magnetic tape offers something unique: an intransigence that digital lacks. While digital allows you infinite possibilities, tape forces you to make definitive choices, pushing you into a creative process that permits no compromises. And perhaps it’s this very unyielding nature that makes it so fascinating and valuable.

-- Matteo Mariano (August 2024)

Lᴏɴᴛᴀɴᴏ Series is a division of Rohs! Records.

Est. 2018 - Berlin, Germany.

The label is now located in Sardinia, Italy.

“Lontano” is an Italian word meaning far away, a definition reflected in the label’s logo—a range of mountains seen from a distance.

rohs! records
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